FIFTEEN-year-old Rhys Williams won the 1.35m CSIO Pony Grand Prix at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth Finals at Sentower Park in Belgium last Wednesday.

Riding Morgan Sheehy’s nine-year-old gelding K-Little Hero d’18, the Co Clare rider, who won gold at the 2018 Children on Horses European championships, came out on top in the 14-horse jump-off.

From eight double clears against the clock, Williams’ time of 38.45 seconds was almost a second faster than the runner-up, Claudia Moore from Britain with Delflip (0/0 39.12). Ireland’s Ryan Sweetnam also produced a double clear round aboard Barra Sweetnam’s Perseus Spartacus to slot into fifth place with a time of 40.85.

Williams and Sweetnam were also part of Gary Marshall’s pony team who finished third in the Nations Cup. They were joined by John McEntee (Little Smithe) and Ella Quigley (Rock Dee Jay). McEntee produced the only clear round for the team aboard Sandra Duffy’s nine-year-old Irish-bred gelding.

Williams picked up a single time fault, while both Sweetnam and Quigley finished with four faults. That score, added to the one penalty they carried forward from day one left Ireland with a final score of six faults in third place.

Britain took the winners’ prize on a score of zero, ahead of Germany with five faults. A total of eight teams contested the final.

Ireland current junior European champion, Kate Derwin, was also in winning form at the Belgian venue. She landed victory in Saturday morning’s junior Table A 1.40m class riding her uncle Jim Derwin’s 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Deep Pocket (OBOS Quality x Cruising).

The combination were the fastest of 10 double clear rounds when breaking the beam in 58.27, almost four seconds faster than Britain’s Benjamin Clark with the Irish-bred LCC Comanche (Corland x Clover Hill).

Derwin was seventh in Friday’s Junior Grand Prix riding her top mount, AHG Whiterock Cruise Down, she was among 12 combinations to make it through to the jump-off, however, four faults saw her finish in seventh place.

Ciaran Nallon, who has recently taken a job riding for Richard and Deirdre Bourns of Bourns Sport Horses, had an excellent week at the Youth Finals. He won Friday morning’s junior Table A class aboard Deirdre Bourns’ eight-year-old mare Call Me Cool Z.

They were the fastest of nine clear rounds in a time of 59.84 seconds, just ahead of The Netherlands’ Gerrit Veenstra. Derwin slotted into fourth place with Deep Pockets (0/61.49).

Nallon then finished second in Saturday’s junior 1.40m two-phase with the mare. Their time of 30.03 seconds was just bettered by Switzerland’s Sira Accola and Coup de Coeur (0/0 30.01).

Both Derwin (AHG Whiterock Cruise Down) and Nallon (Ninparo) were both part of James Kernan’s junior team who took part in Saturday’s Nations Cup Challenge Cup. They were joined by Aisling McGuinness (Kilderrys Joint Venture) and Katie Jane Conlon (Ping Ball) to finished second.

Derwin and Conlon were both double clear, while Nallon picked up a time faults in each round. McGuinness was the discard score with two eight-fault rounds. That left Ireland on a team total of two faults, behind France who finished on zero.

Kernan’s Children on Horses team of Matthew Conlon (Baly Kingdom Clover), John Kirrane (Hero ES), Timmy Brennan (Herbst Acapella) and Coen Williams (Cosima) also finished second in their Challenge Cup competition.